How enrichment programs for captive tigers address their predatory, territorial, and cognitive behavioral needs.
Tiger welfare in zoos requires enrichment that engages their powerful predatory and territorial drives. Pacing stereotypies that develop in stimulus-poor environments represent a significant welfare failure that persists even after enrichment is introduced. Best-practice tiger facilities rotate enrichment types daily to prevent habituation — alternating food puzzle feeders, novel scents, manipulable objects, and varied terrain. Water features that allow swimming provide both behavioral enrichment and thermoregulation. Keeper-tiger relationships built through positive reinforcement training provide additional welfare monitoring opportunity and cognitive engagement.